{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_29447/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_29447","id":"gutenberg_29447","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/29447","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Mice -- Juvenile fiction","Tooth Fairy (Legendary character) -- Juvenile fiction"],"text":"E-text prepared by Louise Hope, David Edwards, and the Project Gutenberg\nOnline Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page\nimages generously made available by Internet Archive\n(http://www.archive.org)\n\n\n\nNote: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this\n      file which includes the original illustrations.\n      See 29447-h.htm or 29447-h.zip:\n      (https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/29447/pg29447-images.html)\n      or\n      (https://www.gutenberg.org/files/29447/29447-h.zip)\n\n\n      Images of the original pages are available through\n      Internet Archive. See\n      http://www.archive.org/details/perezmouse00colo2\n\n\n\n\n\nPEREZ THE MOUSE\n\nby\n\nPADRE LOUIS COLOMA and LADY MORETON\n\n\nPEREZ THE MOUSE\n\n    [Illustration: Perez the Mouse took off his hat\n    and made a very low bow]\n\n\nPEREZ THE MOUSE\n\nAdapted from the Spanish of\n\nPADRE LUIS COLOMA\n\nby\n\nLADY MORETON\n\n   [Silhouette]\n\nWith Illustrations by George Howard Vyse\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nLondon: John Lane The Bodley Head\nNew York: Dodd, Mead & Company\n\nFirst published in 1914\nReprinted  -  1918\nReprinted  -  1927\nReprinted  -  1929\nReprinted  -  1935\n\nPrinted in Great Britain\nby Western Printing Services Ltd., Bristol\n\n\n\n\nLIST OF COLOURED PLATES\n\n\n  Perez the Mouse took off his hat\n    and made a very low bow            _Frontispiece_\n  King Bubi the First                   _face p._ vi\n  The Oldest of Court Doctors                      9\n  Miss Stilton, the Governess                     11\n  A tiny little mouse in a straw hat\n    and slippers and big gold spectacles          15\n  Adolphus studying for Diplomacy                 16\n  Adelaide made tea                               17\n  The King sneezed very hard and turned into\n    the most darling little mouse you ever saw    18\n  Perez the Mouse stopped at some crossway        22\n  Mrs. Mouse was embroidering a beautiful\n    smoking cap for her husband                   24\n  Adolphus playing cards at the Jockey Club       25\n  The Guards silently formed up ready to fire     28\n  Ferocious mice .. armed to the teeth            29\n  The Order of the Golden Fleece                  32\n  The King and Perez knelt down too               33\n  The dreadful Don Pedro                          36\n  Elvira recited                                  40\n\n\n    [Illustration: King Bubi the First]\n\n\n\n\nPEREZ THE MOUSE\n\n\n\n\nOnce upon a time there lived a king called Bubi the First, who\nwas very kind to poor children and mice. For the children he\nbuilt a factory for making dolls and cardboard horses, for the\nbenefit of the mice he made wise laws to stop cats catching\nthem, and absolutely forbade the use of mouse-traps. Bubi began\nto reign when he was only six years old, under the care of his\nmother, who was very good and clever, and who watched over him\nand guided his steps, as good children are guided by their\nGuardian Angel.\n\n    [Illustration: The oldest of the Court Doctors]\n\nBubi was a darling little boy, and when on great days they put\non his gold crown and his embroidered robes, the gold of his\ncrown was not brighter than his hair nor the ermine of his robes\nsofter than his cheeks and hands. He was just like a little\nDresden china figure which had been put to sit on a throne\ninstead of standing on the chimney piece.\n\nOne day while the King was eating his bread and milk, one of\nhis teeth began to wobble. There was a great fuss and the Court\ndoctors arrived in a hurry.  *  They were all agreed that His\nMajesty had begun to change his teeth, and at length they\nsettled to pull out the loose one. They wanted the King to have\nlaughing gas, as he did when his hair was cut, as he always\nfidgeted so, but Bubi was a brave little boy and made up his\nmind to have it out with nothing. The oldest of the Court\ndoctors tied a bit of red silk round the tooth, and then gave a\ntweak, and he pulled so cleverly that, while the King was making\na face, out came the tooth as round and white as a little pearl.\n\nThen there was another fuss as to what was to be done with it,\nbut Bubi's mother, who, as we have said was a very wise Queen\nand very loyal to old customs, settled that the King should\nwrite a very polite letter and put it with the tooth in an\nenvelope under his pillow that night, which has always been the\nproper thing to do ever since the world began, and no one has\never known Perez the Mouse forget to come and fetch the tooth\nand leave a lovely present in its place.\n\n    [Illustration: Miss Stilton, the Governess]\n\nKing Bubi found writing that letter a dreadful task, but he\nmanaged really quite well in the end, and only inked all his\nfingers, the tip of his nose, his left ear, his right shoe and\nhis bib.\n\nHe went to bed very early that evening, and ordered that all the\nlights should be left in his room. He put the envelope under his\npillow and sat up in bed, determined to keep awake to see Perez\nthe Mouse, even if he had to wait all night.\n\n    [Silhouette]\n\n\n\n\nPerez the Mouse was a long time coming, so the little King began\nto make up a little speech to say to him when he did arrive.\nAfter a bit Bubi began to open his eyes very wide, fighting\nagainst the miller who was trying to make him shut them; but\nthey did shut at last, and the little boy slipped down into the\nwarm bed-clothes, his head on the pillow, with one arm over it,\nas a little bird tucks its head under its wing when it goes to\nsleep.\n\nSuddenly he felt something very soft just tickling his forehead,\nand, sitting up quickly, he saw in front of him, standing on the\npillow, a tiny little mouse in a straw hat and slippers and big\ngold spectacles; a red satchel was slung across his back.\n\n    [Illustration: A tiny little mouse in a straw hat\n    and slippers and big gold spectacles]\n\nKing Bubi stared at him in astonishment, and Perez the Mouse,\nseeing that His Majesty was awake, took off his hat and made\na very low bow, waiting to be spoken to. But the King said\nnothing, because he had quite forgotten all he had made up to\nsay, and after thinking and thinking he faltered out at last\n'Good night.'  *  Perez answered with a low bow, 'God give your\nMajesty a very good one.'  *  These civil speeches quite broke\nthe ice, and the King and the mouse became the greatest friends.\n *  It was easy to see that Perez was a mouse who was accustomed\nto polite society, and to run about on soft carpets, as he had\nsuch very good manners.  *  It was wonderful what a lot of\nthings he could talk about which made him a very pleasant\ncompanion.  *  He had travelled through all the pipes and drains\nof the capital, and in the Royal Library alone he had eaten up\nthree books in less than a week.  *  He talked too about his\nfamily. He had two quite grown-up daughters, Adelaide and\nElvira, and a son, nearly grown up, called Adolphus, who was\nstudying for diplomacy in the drawer where the Minister of State\nkept his most secret notes. He did not say much about Mrs.\nMouse, and the little King somehow fancied that she was rather\nvulgar.\n\n    [Illustration: Adolphus studying for Diplomacy]\n\nHis Majesty listened to all this with his mouth open, from time\nto time he put out his hand to try and catch Perez by the tail.\n*  But each time the mouse gave a sort of whisk and placed his\ntail out of reach, without being in the least rude.\n\n    [Illustration: Adelaide made Tea]\n\nIt was getting late, and the King forgot to dismiss him; so Mr.\nMouse cleverly hinted that he had to go that same night to a\nstreet not far off to fetch the tooth of a very poor little boy\ncalled Giles. It was rather a difficult, dangerous journey,\nbecause near there lived a very wicked cat called Don Pedro.\nThe King at once wanted to go too, and begged Perez to take him.\nThe mouse stood thinking it over and twisting his whiskers; the\nresponsibility was very great, and moreover he was obliged to go\nback to his own house to fetch the present for little Giles. The\nKing said he would like to go and see the mouse's home, which so\nmuch flattered Perez that he at once offered him a cup of tea\nand agreed to take him to see little Giles. Perez the Mouse\nlived underneath a grocer's shop, near a big pile of Gruyere\ncheeses which supplied the whole family with breakfast, dinner\nand tea. Overjoyed, King Bubi jumped out of bed and began to\ndress himself, when all at once Perez the Mouse sprang on his\nshoulder and put the tip of his tail into His Majesty's nose.  *\nThen a wonderful thing happened, the King sneezed very hard and\nturned into the most darling little mouse you ever saw. He was\nall soft and shiny, and had wee green eyes like emeralds.  *\nPerez the Mouse took him by the paw and disappeared with him\ndown a tiny hole under the bed, which had been hidden by the\ncarpet.\n\n    [Illustration: The King sneezed very hard and turned into\n    the most darling little mouse you ever saw]\n\nThe way was dark and sticky, but they scampered along. Sometimes\nPerez the Mouse stopped at some crossway and looked about before\ngoing on, which rather frightened the King and made him feel\nlittle shivers right down to the tip of his tail, and he knew\nthat he was afraid, but he remembered that:\n\n  'Fear is natural to the prudent,\n  To conquer it is to be courageous,'\n\nso he would not let himself be frightened, which is being really\nbrave.\n\nOnce when he heard a tremendous noise, like dozens of motor\nomnibuses passing over his head, he whispered to ask Perez if\nthat was where Don Pedro lived, but Mr. Mouse said no with his\ntail, and on they went.\n\nAfter going down a gentle slope they came to a big cellar which\nfelt nice and warm and smelt very much of cheese; behind a pile\nof Gruyere cheese they found themselves face to face with the\nHuntley and Palmer biscuit tin which was the home of the Perez\nfamily. Here they lived as happily as the rat of fable did in\nthe Dutch cheese. Perez the Mouse introduced the King as a\nforeign tourist who was on a visit to the capital, and the\nfamily welcomed him very cordially. The two Miss Mouses were at\nwork with their Governess, Miss Stilton, who was a very learned\nEnglish mouse, and Mrs. Mouse was embroidering a beautiful\nsmoking cap for her husband, sitting by a bright fire made of\nraisin stalks.\n\nThis happy family party delighted King Bubi.  *  Adelaide and\nElvira made tea and poured out some into lovely wee cups made\nout of the skins of white beans.  *  Then they had a little\nmusic. Adelaide sang Desdemona's song, 'O Willow Willow,' in\na way which much pleased the King, and Elvira recited about a\nlittle mouse who was ill of fever, and a naughty kitten who\nwanted to pounce on it. After this Adolphus came in from the\nJockey Club where, to the sorrow of his father and mother, he\nwasted all his time playing cards with the mice from the foreign\nembassies.\n\n    [Illustration: Perez the Mouse stopped at some crossway]\n\nKing Bubi would willingly have stayed longer, but Perez, who had\nslipped away, came back with his satchel on his back and said it\nwas time to start.  *  So the King said goodbye very politely,\nand Mrs. Mouse gave him a kiss on each cheek in her homely way.\n*  Adelaide put out a paw in a lackadaisical fashion, and Elvira\nshook hands like a pump handle, while Miss Stilton made him a\nbeautiful cheese of a curtsey, and then stared at him through\nher eyeglass until he was out of sight.  *  Adolphus, too, was\nvery gushing, and conducted him as far as the lid of the tin,\nand offered to introduce him at the Polo Club, for which the\nKing thanked him very much, thinking all the time that, though\nhe might be a very smart young mouse, he was rather a bore. Then\nBubi and Perez the Mouse again began their scamper with such a\nquantity of precautions that the King was astonished.\n\n    [Illustration: Mrs. Mouse was embroidering\n    a beautiful smoking cap for her husband]\n\nIn front of them went a regiment of ferocious mice, soldiers\nwhose bayonets made of fine needles gleamed in the darkness.\nBehind them came a second regiment, also armed to the teeth.\n\nPerez the Mouse then confessed that he would not have undertaken\nthis expedition without these soldiers to protect the person of\nthe young monarch.\n\nAll of a sudden King Bubi saw the guard in front had disappeared\ndown a little hole, through which came a faint light.\n\n    [Illustration: Adolphus playing cards at the Jockey Club]\n\nThis was the moment of danger. Perez the Mouse, slowly waggling\nhis tail from side to side, put his head very cautiously through\nthe hole and looked around; he then went back two steps, and\nfinally, suddenly seizing the King's paw, dashed through the\nhole like an arrow, crossed a big kitchen, and disappeared\nthrough another hole on the opposite side near the range. As one\nsees telegraph posts out of the train so Bubi saw that kitchen.\nBy the hearth, in the glow of the fire, lay an enormous cat, the\ndreadful Don Pedro, its great whiskers heaving up and down as it\nbreathed.\n\nThe guards silently formed up, from hole to hole, ready to fire,\nto protect the King's route from the sleeping cat. It was all\nvery grand and imposing. An ugly old woman sat in a chair, also\nasleep, with her knitting on her knee.\n\nOnce through the hole the danger was over, and they had only to\nget upstairs, as this was where little Giles lived. Everything\nwas open in his poor room, which was all cracks and draughts.\n\nKing Bubi scrambled on to the arm of a seatless chair, the only\none in the room, and from there could see a picture of poverty\nsuch as he had never dreamt of.\n\nThe sloping roof joined the floor, so that on one side a man\ncould not have stood upright, and through the holes the cold air\nof dawn was coming, while icicles hung from the roof. The only\nfurniture besides the chair was an empty bread basket hanging\nup, and in a corner a bed of straw and rags, on which little\nGiles and his mother were lying fast asleep.\n\nPerez the Mouse drew nearer, taking the King by the paw, and\nthey could see how little Giles was huddled up in the rags, and\nhow he was cuddled up against his mother for warmth, and it made\nthe King so unhappy that he began to cry.\n\n    [Illustration: The Guards silently formed up ready to fire]\n\nWhy had he never known that people were so poor? How was it that\nhe had never been told that children were hungry and had to\nsleep on horrid beds? He did not want any blankets on his cot\ntill every child in his kingdom had plenty of bed-clothes to\nkeep them warm.\n\n    [Illustration: Ferocious mice . . . . armed to the teeth]\n\nPerez the Mouse brushed away a tear with his paw and then tried\nto comfort the King by showing him the bright gold coin he was\ngoing to put under little Giles' pillow in exchange for his\nfirst tooth.\n\nJust then Giles' mother woke and sat up in bed and looked at her\nlittle boy, who was still asleep. It was becoming light, and she\nhad to earn some money by washing clothes in the river.  *  She\ncaught the sleeping Giles in her arms and made him kneel down\nunder a picture of the Infant Christ which was pinned to the\nwall near the bed.\n\nThe King and Perez the Mouse knelt down too, and so did the\nsoldier mice who were waiting in the empty bread basket. The\nchild began to pray, 'Our Father which art in Heaven.'\n\nBubi started and looked at Perez the Mouse, who understood his\nastonishment, and fixed his piercing eyes on him, but never said\na single word.\n\n    [Silhouette]\n\n\n\n\nOn the return journey they were silent and preoccupied, and half\nan hour later the King was home in his nursery with Perez the\nMouse, who again put the tip of his tail into Bubi's nose and\nmade him sneeze. All at once he found himself safely back again\nin his own warm little cot, with the Queen's arms round him, who\nwoke him, as she always did, with a kiss.\n\n    [Illustration: The Order of the Golden Fleece]\n\nAt first he thought it had all been a dream; but when he looked\nfor the letter he had put under his pillow, he found it was\ngone, and in its place was a case with the Order of the Golden\nFleece in diamonds, a magnificent present from the generous\nPerez the Mouse in exchange for his first tooth. (Perhaps I had\nbetter explain to English children that in King Bubi's country\nthe Order of the Golden Fleece is like our Order of the Garter,\nthe greatest honour the King can give.)\n\n    [Illustration: The King and Perez the Mouse knelt down too]\n\nThe little King, however, paid no attention to his beautiful\npresent, and let it lie unnoticed on the bed, while, leaning on\nhis elbow, he lay very busy thinking.  *  Then, suddenly, he\nasked the Queen in a very solemn voice, 'Mama! Why do poor\nchildren say the same prayer as I do, \"Our Father which art\nin Heaven\"?' The Queen answered, 'Because He is as much their\nFather as He is yours.' Then said the King thoughtfully, 'We\nmust be brothers.' 'Yes, my darling, they are your brothers,'\nanswered the Queen.  *  Bubi's eyes were filled with astonishment,\nand, in a choky voice, he asked, 'Then why am I a King and have\neverything I want, while they are poor and have nothing?'\n\nThe Queen gave him a squeeze, and, kissing him again on his\nforehead, said, 'Because you are the eldest brother, which is\nwhat being King really means.  *  You understand, darling? God\nhas given you everything in order that your younger brothers\nshould want for nothing.' 'I never knew this before,' said Bubi,\nshaking his head, and, without thinking any more about his\npresent, he began to say his prayers, as he did every morning;\nand, as he prayed, it seemed to him that all the poor little\nboys in the kingdom came round him with their hands clasped, and\nthat he, the eldest brother, spoke for them all when he prayed\n'Our Father which art in Heaven.'\n\nKing Bubi grew up to be a great ruler.  *  He always asked God's\nhelp in all he did, and returned thanks for his happiness, ever\nsaying, speaking for all his subjects, poor and rich, good and\nbad, 'Our Father which art in Heaven'; and when he died, a very\nold man, and his good soul arrived at the gates of Heaven, he\nknelt down and prayed as usual, 'Our Father.' And, as he prayed,\nthe gates were opened wide by thousands of poor little children\nto whom he had been King, that is to say, eldest brother here on\nearth.\n\n    [Illustration: The dreadful Don Pedro]\n\n    [Silhouette]\n\n\n\n\nP.S.\n\n\nThe Spanish story which was written, once upon a time, to amuse\na real little boy King, ends here; but I cannot help adding that\nit does seem a pity not to try and get Perez the Mouse to come\nto England.  *  The only way to manage this will be to take\ngreat pains over your copies and spelling, so that when your\nfirst tooth comes out you will be able to write a nice, tidy,\npolite letter to him. If you put it under your pillow at night I\nam nearly sure you will find it gone and a present in its place\nin the morning. Perhaps you may even feel the same little soft\ntickle on your forehead that King Bubi did; but I do not promise\nfor certain that you will see kind Mr. Mouse, because he is\nrather shy.\n\n  A.M.M.\n\n    [Silhouette]\n\n    [Illustration: Elvira recited]\n\n\n\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n\n\nErrata (noted by transcriber)\n\n  [Illustration: King Bubi the First]  [Rubi]\n\n  [List of Plates:]\n  The Oldest of the Court Doctors\n    [_\"the\" supplied to agree with figure caption_]\n\nThe punctuation of \"Ferocious mice...\" is unchanged.\n\nKing \"Bubi\" was Alfonso XIII of Spain (1886-1941). The story was\nwritten at his mother's request in 1894.","title":"Perez the Mouse","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":3468}